Wink
Wink, Inc. is a Des Moines-based competitive intelligence and market research firm, founded in 2005, that sells subscription access through WinkIntel.com to annuity and life insurance product data covering 150+ carriers and 4,120+ contracts. It serves financial services professionals, agents, distributors, carriers, regulators, and consultants via individual licenses and multi-year corporate subscriptions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersDes Moines, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Wink does
Wink, Inc. is a privately held competitive intelligence and market research firm founded in 2005 and headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, where it self-describes as operating in the "indexed annuity capital of the WORLD." The company sells subscription access through WinkIntel.com to financial services professionals, insurance agents and producers, distributors (broker-dealers and IMOs), insurance carriers, regulators, and consultants. Its core offerings are AnnuitySpecs, a search and comparison tool covering 2,750+ annuity products and rates, and LifeSpecs, a search tool for life insurance products with loan provisions to support living benefits analysis, supported by the Sales & Market Report and the Index Intelligence Report. A centralized Data HQ product provides structured data access, and the firm also offers insurance consulting services. The underlying platform aggregates specifications and rates from over 150 insurance companies, tracking 4,120+ annuity and life insurance contracts including legacy products from carriers no longer actively marketing.
The business model is B2B subscription/licensing: individual licensed agents register and pay an annual license fee, while corporate users (broker-dealers, IMOs, carriers) execute multi-year enterprise licenses payable by check or credit card within 30 days of electronic invoice. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution is primarily direct via the website, supplemented by enterprise sales to broker-dealer/IMO networks and insurance carrier home offices, and amplified by a multi-channel content presence (industry news, newsletter, YouTube under the IndexedAnnuityGirl brand, and major social platforms). The firm is founder-led by Sheryl J. Moore (Founder, Chief Storyteller, Chairwoman & CEO) and operates with a lean 1–10 person team, with no disclosed institutional funding, acquisitions, or parent company.
A December 2025 partnership with PAX Technology signals an attempted expansion beyond the traditional insurance intelligence franchise into biometric payment authentication. Under the partnership, Wink is described as providing an "AI-driven" platform supporting multimodal biometric authentication (facial recognition, palm biometrics) and autonomous authentication decisions for point-of-sale terminals. The extent to which this AI capability represents genuine in-house Wink technology versus partner-supplied functionality is not independently verified in the available data, and the partnership's revenue contribution is not disclosed.
Wink firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wink
- Legal name
- Wink, Inc.
- Website
- https://winkintel.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Wink, Inc. is a Des Moines-based competitive intelligence and market research firm, founded in 2005, that sells subscription access through WinkIntel.com to annuity and life insurance product data covering 150+ carriers and 4,120+ contracts. It serves financial services professionals, agents, distributors, carriers, regulators, and consultants via individual licenses and multi-year corporate subscriptions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wink industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Insurance Market Intelligence
- NAICS
- Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Data, Analytics & AI for Insurance (Risk, Pricing, Personalization) (FSAGAGAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Insurtech-Enabled Brokerage (Digital Brokers & Aggregators) (FSAEADAN)
Keywords
Where Wink is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Des Moines
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Wink business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription License Fees: Wink operates a subscription-based license model where users pay a license fee to access WinkIntel.com for product specifications and rates. Individual users register and pay license fees, while corporate users agree to pay by check or credit card within 30 days of receiving an electronic invoice. The platform offers both AnnuitySpecs and LifeSpecs tools under the subscription.
- Consulting Services: Insurance consulting services offered as part of their analysis tools portfolio, providing specialized advisory services to industry professionals.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Individual Agent Subscription |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Corporate/Broker Dealer Subscription |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Wink product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wink, Inc. operates WinkIntel.com, a subscription-based competitive intelligence platform serving the life insurance and annuity industries. The platform aggregates product specifications, rates, and market data across 150+ insurance carriers covering 4,120+ annuity and life insurance contracts. Core tools include AnnuitySpecs (annuity product search), LifeSpecs (life insurance with loan provisions), Wink's Sales & Market Report, Wink's Index Intelligence Report, and Data HQ for structured data access, supplemented by insurance consulting services.
Product overview
Wink, Inc. is a competitive intelligence and market research firm serving the life insurance and annuity industries. The company operates WinkIntel.com, a licensed subscription platform providing access to its core research tools. Its primary offerings include AnnuitySpecs (searching 2,750+ annuity products) and LifeSpecs (searching life insurance products with loan provisions), supported by specialized reports (Sales & Market Report, Index Intelligence Report), insurance consulting services, and Data HQ for structured data access. Wink also partners with PAX Technology to embed its AI-driven biometric authentication platform into payment terminals for the financial services market.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AnnuitySpecs: Analysis tool for searching and comparing annuity product specifications and rates.
- LifeSpecs
- Wink's Sales & Market Report
- Wink's Index Intelligence Report
Products and services
- AnnuitySpecs A proprietary search tool enabling users to search and compare over 2,750+ annuity product specifications and rates from multiple insurance carriers. Used by licensed insurance agents, distributors, and manufacturers for competitive analysis and product education.
- LifeSpecs A search tool for identifying life insurance products with loan provisions to aid in living benefits, allowing comparison of life insurance offerings across carriers. Used by insurance professionals for due diligence and product comparison.
- Wink's Sales & Market Report Quarterly and annual market intelligence report providing sales data, industry trends, and regulatory analysis for the US life insurance and annuity sector. Used by insurance professionals and carriers for market intelligence.
- Wink's Index Intelligence Report Specialized report covering indexed annuity and indexed life insurance market intelligence, product indexing methods, and index performance analysis. Used by industry professionals tracking the indexed product segment.
- Data HQ Data management and analytics service providing structured data access to insurance industry product information and market intelligence. Used by carriers and distributors for bulk data analysis.
- Insurance Consulting Professional consulting services for financial services professionals, distributors, manufacturers, regulators, and consultants on life insurance and annuity products. Provided as an advisory offering to industry professionals.
Quantifiable outcome
- Covers over 4,120 annuity and life insurance contracts
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Wink
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Wink technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
Wink partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- PAX TechnologyflagshipWink partnered with PAX Technology to create biometric-powered payment solutions integrating Wink's AI-driven platform with PAX's payment hardware. The joint solution enables biometric authentication for secure, frictionless transactions across various environments globally, improving checkout experience and fraud prevention. This partnership extends Wink's technology into the payment terminal space.
- PAX TechnologycorePAX Technology and Wink partnered to embed multimodal biometric authentication into payment terminals. This extends Wink's capabilities into point-of-sale biometric payment solutions.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Wink competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Morningstar: Global investment research and data platform with growing insurance and annuity data coverage. Comparable in that it sells subscription-based analytics and research to financial services professionals, though at vastly greater scale.
- Verisk Analytics: Major data analytics and risk-assessment firm serving insurance carriers globally. Comparable as an insurance data and analytics SaaS provider, though Verisk focuses more on underwriting/risk than product competitive intelligence.
- S&P Global Market Intelligence: Large-scale financial and insurance data, analytics, and research provider. Notably, S&P is also a Wink customer, illustrating the relationship between deep niche specialists like Wink and broad incumbent data platforms.
Emerging players
- Wink竞争对手 (Wink competitor placeholder): Smaller emerging annuity and life insurance analytics or comparison platforms (e.g., NAVA-like specialty analytics providers) compete with Wink at the low end of the market for product-level annuity intelligence.
- Stable Value Analytics: Smaller niche analytics firm focused on stable value and fixed-income retirement products. Comparable as a niche data and analytics provider in adjacent retirement-product categories where Wink also operates.
Direct peers
- Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I): Non-profit industry research and education organization focused on property/casualty and life insurance. Comparable as an insurance-focused research and data publisher targeting industry professionals and media.
- Insured Retirement Institute (IRI): Trade association focused on annuities, insured retirement products, and longevity solutions. Comparable in targeting the same annuity distribution ecosystem and providing research and market intelligence to its members.
- LIMRA: Industry research and benchmarking organization serving life insurance and annuity carriers with sales, market, and product data. Closest comparable to Wink in serving the same buyer personas (carriers, distributors, regulators) with subscription-based research.
- AnnuityRateWatch: Online annuity comparison and rate-tracking platform for consumers and advisors. Comparable to Wink's AnnuitySpecs in providing searchable annuity product and rate intelligence, though with a more retail orientation.
- National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA): Trade association serving the fixed annuity industry with advocacy, education, and product intelligence. Comparable to Wink's Index Intelligence and AnnuitySpecs offerings in serving fixed annuity distributors and product intelligence needs.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Wink social profiles
Digital presenceWink financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wink leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Wink funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wink M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wink
What does Wink do?
Wink, Inc. operates WinkIntel.com, a subscription-based competitive intelligence platform serving the life insurance and annuity industries. The platform aggregates product specifications, rates, and market data across 150+ insurance carriers covering 4,120+ annuity and life insurance contracts. Core tools include AnnuitySpecs (annuity product search), LifeSpecs (life insurance with loan provisions), Wink's Sales & Market Report, Wink's Index Intelligence Report, and Data HQ for structured data access, supplemented by insurance consulting services.
Is Wink a public or private company?
Wink is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Wink founded?
Wink was founded in 2005. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Wink based?
Wink is headquartered in Des Moines, United States, in the North America region.
How does Wink make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription License Fees are the primary driver. The others are consulting Services.
Who are Wink's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Morningstar, Verisk Analytics and S&P Global Market Intelligence. Emerging players are Wink竞争对手 (Wink competitor placeholder) and Stable Value Analytics. Direct peers are Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), LIMRA, AnnuityRateWatch and National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA).
Does Wink have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wink.
What industry is Wink in?
Wink's product category is Insurance Market Intelligence. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAGAE, Data, Analytics & AI for Insurance (Risk, Pricing, Personalization), with a secondary code of FSAEADAN, Insurtech-Enabled Brokerage (Digital Brokers & Aggregators). Its NAICS code is 5242 and its SIC code is 8700.